La Machine à explorer le temps

One of my favorite films back when I was a lad was George Pal's production of the H.G. Wells novel, The Time Machine. As I've gotten a lot older since the 13 I was when it came out, I can more appreciate the meticulous care that went into the making of this film.

Considering that we didn't have computer generated images back in the day, the special effects hold up remarkably well. The make up and costumes for the villainous Morlocks still have the power to frighten.

What I look at now though was the United Kingdom of the turn of the last century in which Wells wrote his book. As much as George Pal was able to capture the future, he did as well with the past, the recreation of the Victorian/Edwardian era from which our time traveler Rod Taylor goes to the future and back.

A lot of that has to do with the casting of the four men who are Taylor's friends and looked like they stepped from that era. Tom Helmore, Sebastian Cabot, Whit Bissell, and Alan Young all comport themselves as proper English gentlemen who are concerned and support their friend anyway in his theories and experiments.

Especially Alan Young's performance, it's my favorite in the film. Young plays a dual role as Taylor's friend and as his own son over several generations of the 20th century. He's the kind of true friend we should all in life be fortunate to have.

Also note that the mechanics of the Time Machine itself are never explained, just how the thing works and what powers it. It was probably beyond even the fertile imagination of H.G. Wells to conceive, our own best minds of science now debate whether it is even theoretically possible.

Rod Taylor after playing several good supporting roles in many films since arriving in America from his native Australia, got his first lead and real big break in The Time Machine. He's excellent as the time traveler who essentially saves the future for mankind and rescues it from the world that has developed.

The Time Machine was also ahead of it's time. no pun intended, in its depiction of the peaceful Eloi. During the sixties age of flower power, the gentle Eloi are like a bunch of hippies who seemingly have attained their version of paradise. No one is old and they live in a garden of Eden. Little do they know what the underground Morlocks are using them for.

Yvette Mimieux who as Weena of the Eloi got her break out role her. She's the quintessence of the flower power generation soon to come.

Even though new versions have been done, this version of The Time Machine still stirs the imagination and appeals to the scientifically curious in all of us.

I recently saw the 2002 film "The Time Machine" and liked it a great deal, so I thought that it was probably in my best interest to see the 1960 version of "The Time Machine". So, I went ahead and rented it and watched it. I knew that this film was made in 1960, so I wasn't expecting anything spectacular, but I still hoped that it would be good. I must say that I was REALLY impressed with the film! I thought it was great!

The story is brilliantly told, smartly done, and quite interesting. I noticed a great deal of similarities (and differences) between this film and the 2002 version. There was virtually nothing I didn't like about the film, as far as story goes. I'm really interested in reading the H.G. Wells story now, so hopefully in the near future I'll bust out my copy and read it.

I thought the actors in the film did a fantastic job as well! Sadly, I'd never even heard of any of the actors in the film. I thought Rod Taylor, Alan Young and Yvette Mimieux all did a great job. The rest of the cast was good, but these three really struck me as great. Also, I have to say that Yvette is one beautiful woman!

The special effects in this film were surprisingly good, especially for a movie made in 1960! I must admit that I was really impressed with the sets and the special effects in the film.

The only thing that I would complain about, if I had to, is some little things. For instance, the classic "monster about to grab the guy, but then doesn't" sort of thing. Little things like that kind of bothered me, but I realize that it was just the style back then, so I can't really complain about it. Also, I wasn't too terribly impressed with the mouth and face of the Morlocks, but again, given that it was made back in 1960, I can let it slide.

Overall, I really enjoyed the film, and would definitely recommend it to anyone that liked the 2002 version of the film or just enjoys films about time-travel or science fiction. I truly hope that you enjoy the film as much as I do. Thank you for reading,

-Chris

This is one of the best science fiction movie from the '60s. Based on H G Wells' novel, Time Machine is probably the first movie dealing with time travel.

When time travel was not mainstream topic of science fiction, this movie paved the way for interest in time travel, and also sort of gave permission for people to think about time travel, and not be considered a crack pot. Now mainstream physicist write about how real time machines can be constructed without violating the laws of physics. In this sense this movie had seminal influence in the way we think about time.

All this probably wouldn't have happened if this movie had shoddy workmanship, but the production of this movie was impeccable. Everything about this movie is beautifully made. Story is intriguing, and also presents an interesting scenario about the future of man kind.

Not only is this a historically important film, it's an excellently made movie. If you're a science fiction fan, this is one movie you need to watch.

One of those Sci-Fi films that's made just right to be watched over and over again and never gets old. The special effects were ahead of their time but the film is not bogged down with them and the actors are allowed to ply their trade. Rod Taylor puts in a solid performance as George the time traveler. George Pal did a great job with this picture. A remake would probably be flashier with the FX but would be hard to beat this classic.

In the early 1960s my mother used to take my younger sister and me to a nearby one-screen theater to see Saturday kiddie matinees. It was a great way to keep us entertained and out of her hair for a few hours, particularly after our baby sister was born.

One movie I saw during those matinees was the 1960 version of The Time Machine. It made such an impression on me that, for quite a while afterward, I would play Time Machine with my sister and cousin with me as the Time Traveler.

It wasn't until sometime in the 1990s that I was able to see it again when I got a VHS copy. It was very much the way I remembered it to be. I have since read the book and have found that the movie is quite faithful to the text, though some scenes involving two stops in the 1900s were added and a few bright spots appeared that weren't in the book, which is pretty dark.

The special effects look primitive by today's standards, but they did win the Academy Award for Special Effects in 1961, and rightfully so, though I have no idea what other films had been nominated.

This is still one of my top 10 movies and likely always will be. I haven't seen the 2002 version, which is probably just as well, since I'm happy with the 1960 version and don't want to ruin it.